Upgrade
by 8cheshirekat
Summary: [SPD] Weclome to New Tech City! SPD Academy is set to train any member of socioty, but there's a mystery brewing deep in the Academy as secrets are revealed and lines are crossed.
1. The big bang

Sunny mist rose up from the sea below as it smashed it's angry fist into the harsh, jagged rocks. Lights from a nearby torch glew with a soft caress against the mist. The ocean salt lingered in the air, as did the smell of blood.

Screams echoed as the light was snuffed and a sharp pang of guilt hit him hard. Blood oozed over his hands as another ear-splitting, deafening crash from the waves smashed into the rocks. He's killed someone close to his heart, and he was bleeding in his arms. He felt a gentle hand touch his shoulder and then-

---

BANG!

Bridge jumped, his heart racing in his throat and ears. He'd fallen asleep in his bed, but Sky was on the floor, looking as if he'd fallen off his bed at the noise. His deep blue eyes looked up at his roommate. Bridge shrugged.

Sky rose to his feet and picked up his pedestrian blaster and held it at the ready as he slowly approached the door. He reached for the unlock key, but the door hissed open.

"ACK!" Jack put his hands up in surrender. "Sky. What're you doing at a time like this? Shooting something?"

"What?" Sky demanded, his voice eched with aggitation.

Bridge shook his head and made his way past them and out into the hall. He closed his mind to the angry auras behind him and made his way down the hall, following a calm aura that was left behind on the walls in shapes of hand prints, as if someone was hurt. The bang must have shocked a few people, but this person was calmer, meaning it was from before the bang.

He followed it down the halls he'd never been down before. He tripped over some old parts to an android prototype covered in dust. This figure had done the same. He kept going, down stairs, watching his surroundings get darker and the aura get stronger. He rounded a corner and almost ran into someone.

"Cadet Carson, what're you doing down here? The labs are off limits!" Cruger stood there, arms folded, face stern, eyes strict.

"There was an aura on the wall right before the whole place shook," Bridge explained. "I don't know hwere it came from, but it was definatly not regular auras, but a calm one, so I wanted to find out where it led, of course, I didn't know if they went into a restricted section or the cafeteria or the medical bay, or the landing docks, or anything like that. I-"

Crugger stepped aside. "Proceed."

"Uh, thanks?" Bridge didn't wait, he made his way along the path that was etched out. Slowly, larger amounts of the aura began to form around the hand print and Bridge stopped. Snapping his glove off, he managed to swipe it and watch a figure stummble into a door that apparently opened right as it leaned against it. As it's feet dissappeared into the doors, there was another explosion and the doors themselves opened up, revealing an android. "Hi. Is there a wounded personell in there?" he asked, trying to look around the android.

"No." He shook his head. The android stepped into the hall, letting the dim lights above illuminate what little they touched. He had long, flowing, black hair that swung about his waist and was straight, he wore black cloth that losely held onto him and a long, black trench coat that was unbuttoned, revealing the silver badge witht he dog and POLICE. "There was an explosion, what was it?"

"I don't-" Bridge began, but-

"_Bridge! Report to the Command Center!_" Kat's voice ran out.

The android looked up then down at Bridge. "Is that you?"

"Yes," Bridge saluted the android.

---

"-still dosen't make sense!" Sky was saying.

"Yes, it dose! You're mind is just to small to comprehend that!" Jack retorted.

"But still, can one simply walk in there!" Syd demanded.

"What do you think, dummy!" Z shot back.

"There is a possible way! But, no one can get in!" Kat tried to say above the noise.

"Then how do we get in!" Crugger demanded.

Bridge stood, forgotten, by the door. He watched his team fighting with Crugger and Kat joining in with the fiasco. Sam, also forgotten, zoomed over and hid inside one of Bridge's pockets.

"To loud, huh?" Sam asked.

"What's going on?" Bridge asked his pocket.

"Well," Sam made a pop sound as he came out of light-orb form to ranger-suite-up, "Kat found what all those bangs were and we need a personel to go down there, problem is, we can't figure out how." Sam shrugged. "Sums it up for you?"

"Yeah." Bridge held up his fingers to his lips and gave the loudest whistle that startled everyone. He waved. "Hi. Um, should I just go? It looks like you guys got it." He pointed out into the hall. No one responded. "Ok, well, I'll be in the common room if anyone needs me." He turned on his heel and walked away, no one stopped him on his way out. He back-tracked and snatched Sam by the arm. "C'mon."

"Think we shouldn't have been yelling?" Z asked Syd.

Syd nodded. "Agreed. The plan is working, Kat!"

Kat sighed and slumped back into her chair. "It's harder to keep Bridge thinking we're messy, even if it's not for something I wanted to do."

Crugger gave a snort. "It's supposed to be a suprise birthday party."

---

"_Rangers! Report to the command center!_" Kat said.

That had been over ninety minutes ago. Bridge was stretched out in a chair, Sky was pacing, Syd and Z were drawing imaginary circles on a desk, and Jack was watching Sky's feet prance around. Bridge suddenly shot up and followed Sky.

Syd looked like she was about to explode. "OK! THAT'S IT! WHY'RE WE STILL-!"

"Cadet Drew! Keep your voice down!" It was another cadet dressed in a colorless, black uniform. He/she stood in the doorway, arms folded, eyes sternly watched Syd, and a sour expresion etched in deep. "I suppose you want to make a ruccus and alert Grumm where we are?"

"No. And who gave you the right to order me around like that!" Syd demanded, her arms also corssed.

"Don't treat supireors like that," it said in retort. "If you don't keep you're voice down, I will take drastic measures to enforce the peace between you rangers of B-squad." It turned on it's heel and with a "humph" marched away.

"What a jerk!" Syd and Bridge said in unison. They stared at each other and continued like no interruption had excisted.

"Rangers!" Crugger was standing in the doorway and the cadet at his side, arms still crossed. "Cadet McKnight has just informed me that you were making to much noise. Care to explain why you aren't using this time to bond with each other over serious matters?"

"Why is a Cadet ratting us out?" Z asked.

Cadet McKnight suddenly made a move as if to throw something at Z but thought better and looked away from the rangers and off to his left. He didn't seem to like what Z was saying. "Sir, with all do respect, these lower B-squad Cadets shouldn't be Rangers if they can't bond when time is given to them."

"'Lower'!" Syd repeated, baffled. "Did he just say 'lower' cadets!"

McKnight gave a snort and placed his hands behind him. "With all due respect, my name is Squee McKnight, A-squad Special-Forces, SWAT grade level eight, Ranger by right, Samurai Teacher, best at every class, gratuated top at ten, became ranger at eleven, and am a much better aim than Cadet Landors. And I'm _not_ a sissy girl." _She_ saluted the rangers like an A-squad member would salute Crugger.

"I expect a full analysis of their first day," Crugger said to McKnight and she saluted him. "Rangers, meet your new mentor. She's nineteen, comes from Japan, adopted by Cammanding General Conner McKnight and has been raised here since she was four. She will drill you to see who will move up and who will stay. Proceed."

"Welcome, cadets, to your frist day of training. I want a wind-sprint down the length of the mudd run and I want fifty push-ups, and seventy sit-ups! Move you're butts! Let's go!" She gave it like an order.


	2. Asquad pleasures

It was almost twelve in the afternoon when they finally crashed in the common room. Z and Syd took only five minutes before heading off to the showers to wash up, but McKnight stopped them. In the light, McKnight did prove to have some female features; long, black hair that was always in a tight braid, her left ear was peirced in three places and her right was peirced in two places, her eyes were like looking at sharp shards of icy chills, her height reached about the top of Sky's shoulder, she always wore a hat that cast a shadow over her eyes and also gave her a sterner look than the uniform of an A-squad Ranger. At the moment, she had changed into her original uniform, which revealed an hour-glass shaped body and still made her seem threatining and very stern, but where it should have be pink or yellow or anyother ranger color, but silvery grey.

"Look! We did you're mudd run, push-ups, sit-ups, the wind-sprint, the pull-ups, the endurence run! What more do you want!" Syd demanded.

"Here. Takes the mudd out of you're hair." McKnight had handed Z a half-used bottle. "It makes the watter a bit dirty, but get's the mudd out." She turned to the boys. "Go get cleaned up, all of you, then I want you back here, you have half an hour, starting now."

---

McKnight gave them one full hour to rest up after a fifteen-minute lunch before she requested they do meditation, calming their bodies.

That lasted a good two and a half hours. McKnight snapped them out of it and sighed. "You guys are wose than I thought. I guess SWAT training didn't affect you permanantly." She rubbed the back of her kneck. "Welcome, D-level A-squad members to the ending of your first day of training."

"_WHAT!_" came five suprised, overwhelming, loud, unexplainable yells.

McKnight covered her ears. "Hey!" She glared at them. "Crugger decided it was time to upgrade the new Rangers to active-duty-call. During this time, you will all be awarded the privilages and hard-ships of the A-squad members, weather you like it or not. First, however, you must brush up on you're training and skills. We will home in on the better abilities."

"What?" Syd repeated. "Our 'better abilities' would be...?"

McKnight sighed and shook her head. "Let's start with you, Sydney Drew. Physically, without training, you couldn't even hit a wall, but, you also have the genetic powers to create some element with you're fist, you are crative, fulient, and have a knack for worming out of tough spots. Elizabeth Delgado, you would still be on the streets afraid to make friends with someone new because of tramatizing memories, but now that you have a new set of friends to stand beside you, your inner strength comes from your smile, you are also the most fit of the girls, and you tend to care about this group as a family. Bridge Carson, although you were adopted, you made friends with someone who was ubreakable, but you are still shy when it comes to expressing, but, you have the crativity of an artist who works with what he's got and improvises. Schyler Tate, although adopted as well, you don't forget your place but are still a bit out of place after your mother's suicide, but all in all, you still are the one to keep a clear head in the face of danger, you become the pillar of strength, and you also like to read books, study everything you can on a subject. And you, Jack Landors, aren't always in need of a friend, but you still asked for one, this is why you are red ranger; because you know when it's time to call on a helping hand and it usually comes, weather you like it or not." McKnight continued to rub the back of her neck. "Unfourtunately, the bad angles will be assesed as well. Don't think it's all about greatness and good things. Drew, we'll work on you not being as preppy as you are being, Delgado, we'll work on you and your making friends problem, Carson, we'll help you become a little more braver in expressing yourself, Tate, we'll work on your people skills, Landors, well, we'll keep you from slacking so much."

Bridge raised his hand. "Um, who's the other part of we? Not that it's that bad, but you kept saying we, and we means two or more, but you can't be two or more, unless there is another you somewhere in here and still unseen, but that means that we can't trust you because your not a 'we', are you?"

McKnight shook her head. "We is me and Rain. No, we're not talking the weather rain, I'm talking Cadet Rain. She and I are undercover Rangers from A-squad. We were both special forces. We will be you're mentors until we decide who will be reported to Crugger-"

"-as the next Ranger on A-squad." They turned to see another girl in the same uniform as McKnight, but was coppery-brown instead of silvery grey. She had a beautiful face, slightly tanned skin with soft hazel eyes and lush lips, and her hair was layered sandy brown with a soft, goldish highlights and was currently carrying a small box with her. She looked like she was a little shorter than Z. "Hi!" She waved. Her smile seemed to illuminate everything. "I would like you, all of you, to put your morphers in this box. You won't be needing them for the next week, or until one of you comes to the top and breaks the barracade we've put on your old quarters." She held out the box and, in turn, each placed their morphers in the box. "Now," Rain's smile faded, "I want all of you to listen carefully to me. Each of you has a seperate room in this space. If you can find you're room before we start the introductions of the other Ranger and start discussing schedules, which is at about 1430 hours, then you can keep that room to yourselves. If you want a roommate, then _both_ of you pick a room together. Off you scoot."

Sky and Bridge sat side-by-side while the others zoomed off to find their rooms. Bridge tugged Sky's sleeve and Sky looked down at his hand with a little bit of suprise. "Yes?"

"Can we room together again?" Bridge asked.

Squee and Rain smiled at each other. Rain gave a snort, to which Squee punched her arm. "Hey, don't laugh! We were like that for a while to, remember? We were inseperable, then we became A-squad with connecting rooms. Don't laugh at them! It's just a friendly gesture."

Bridge stood up and dragged Sky off to the first door and stood in front of it. Sky stared at the door. Bridge nudged him. "This one."

"Why?" Sky stared at his roommate.

"I dunno! It feels safe?"

"Feels safe?" Sky repeated Bridge's words. "All right, if you say so." Sky lifted his hand to unlock the door. The green button fluttered yellow and the doors hissed open.

Two jaws dropped ten feet down.

Green and blue clashed neatly and things were perfectly set the way they liked it. Bridge's books were stacked a little crooked on the floor, his bed was a little screwed and wrinkly, his computer was hooked up to a toster and waffle iron, his bookshelf looked like a make-shift pile of hard and paperback books, and the walls were plastered with pictures of his favorite football team, his friends, and his hobbies hung about. Sky's cloths were neatly folded on his bed, which was neatly made, books lined the shelf above his bed, in alphabetical order, the nightstand held the picture of Sky and his dad, his blue lamp was lit up with a soft glow, his floor was spotless, and his closet was neatly arranged.

"Welcome to your new room, Blue and Green Rangers." Rain smiled. "We didn't think you two'd want to split up, so we put Blue and Green in the same room. You two are inseperable at some point. When you get comfy, come out to the common room and wait for the others."

---

Jack had found his respected room, as had Z and Syd, all three after about seventeen tries on different doors.

Rain and Squee were playing rock-paper-siccors on one of the couches. Rain suddenly made a yelp as Sam smacked her in the back of the head. "Hey!"

"What about me!" he demanded.

Rain looked at Squee who shrugged it off. "Look, Sam. Crugger didn't say you need the training, as you've already got it, so you already passed beyond this and are part of Crugger's elite task force thingy," Squee said, waving her hand dismissivly. "Now stop hurting Rain."

Rain had a fake look of pain on her face for a split second and suddenly got up. "You guys found 'em?"

"Yeah, after about the umpteenth time." Sky and Bridge looked at one another then up at Jack. "What?"

"It took us one try," Bridge said. He smiled. "I guess it took you longer because of guilty consious?"

Syd shook her head. "All right, what time is it?"

Squee heaved a great sigh. "You guys barely missed the deadline. 1429." She climbed to her feet and grabbed a remote off the table. "Now, each of your rooms are equiped with these features. Rain?"

"Right!" Rain smiled. "Each room is equiped with surround sound speakers, specially choosen songs that are choosen for each memeber in that room. Each has one or two custom made bathrooms, one or two custom made beds, sheets, pillows, and other accessories for sleep. Each room also has a communication link to other rooms and to the Command Center. You get digital videos, tv, and you also have custom made uniforms for work, sleep, or just for going under cover. These uniforms were made by your genetic powers, personality, and pereferences." Rain lookes at Squee. "Now, Squee, here, will give you your new uniforms and set the schedule."

"Any questions before we begin?" Squee looked at Bridge's hand. "Yes?"

"Is your name spelled S-k-e-e or S-k-i?" Bridge looked a little confused.

"It's spelled S-q-u-e-e, looks like the sound made from a squeeky toy, sounds like ski, and isn't what I want to be called. I'm adopted. Now, any furthur questions? No? Good. Now, being an A-squad member has it's responsibilities and it's privilages. A privilage is that most of the day is dedicated to bonding or fighting time. You are to be in the common room no later than 1900 hours and to be in bed by 2000 hours. You will rise at 0400 hours, begin your work-out at 0700 hours, from then until 1700 hours is yours to do what you like. If you are caught doing any work from classes or assesing any motivations for Grumm, then you will be sent to your room or expelled. Any questions there?" Squee looked at them and continued when no one raised their hand. "Good. Now, please stand over by Rain and I'll assign you each your personalized wardrobe." She pointed to the far end of the room.

Rain stood beside five doors. Each was as plain as the next. There was a soft click as Squee pressed a button. The doors hissed open and a small platform reeceeded from each. Rain saw the confusion and her smile widened. "Place your morphers on each platform. This will determin the style, type, and size to make the uniforms."

It took about three seconds for Sky's. His was a sharp, crisp uniform. The number two was embeded on the collar of his jacket, which had a blue left sleeve and one blue stripe on the right side of the chest area, the pants were black-ish gray with two blue stripes speeding down the side to his shoes. The shirt was a rich royal blue that had black letters and white dots reading S. P. D.

Syd's was a beautiful uniform with a skirt instead of a set of pants. Her's was a pink skirt that flitted about her knees and had black lining, the top was complete with a pink coat and a black shirt. The shoes looked like black and pink buckle combo for Mary-Jane-like shoes.

Bridge had a plain, long-sleeved, dark green shirt with comfortable leather gloves, the green shirt had the SPD badge imprinted on the left, upper sleeve, his pants were black with one single neon green strip down the right side.

Jack's was a denim jacket with black stitching, the shirt underneath was maroon, the pants were faded, black jeans with red stiching and the back of his denim jacket had the academy initials with Space Patrol Delta printed under each letter.

Z had something similar to Syd's only where pink was replaced by yellow and thick boots that had yellow laces and a yellow heart on the bottom of the boots, and had one silver badge with the dog and POLICE on each wrist.

Rain smiled. "Rangers! Suite-up for a close combat drill in five." She pushed off the wall she'd been leaning on and hooked her arm around Squee's neck and litterally dragged the girl from the room. "See you in five!"


	3. Unpredictable

The rangers were lined up along a rooftop, still demorphed.

Rain and Squee stood side-by-side on the other end. Rain held a finger to her cheek. "All right, remember! If you fall off the building, you will fail automatically, if you demorph and are unconsious, then you automatically fail, if you fail to complete the task, well, you'll automatically fail. Any questions?" she asked, ignoring Bridge's raised hand. "Let's get going!"

"Ready?" Jack asked, his morpher raised.

"Ready!" his team responded.

"SPD! Emergency!" Five cadets transformed into five rangers.

Squee and Rain nodded to each other. Squee held up a morpher similar to theirs, only the SPD was navy blue and the usual lettering that looked like cat scratches was missing. "Ready?"

"Ready!" Raind said happily.

"SPD! Protocol!" Instead of whipping it out to the left and to the right, they brought it straight out infront of them upside-down and swished it right-side up. They began to glow, as if they were angels, their uniforms tightening against their skin and on Squee, a ribbon of Titanium wove around her, on Rain it was a copper ribbon. Their lips shimmered for a breif moment as they made a soft kiss on their finger tips, creating a white ribbon that wound around their hair and held it up. The helment appeared the moment the ribbon was tied and with a swish of their hands, the visor came down.

"Space Patrol Delta Omega Titanium Ranger!" Squee's voice echoed as a teenage boy's voice.

"Space Patrol Delta Omega Copper Ranger!" Rain's voice resounded off the walls as a teenage girl's voice.

"Deltamax Sabers!" SPD Green and Blue Rangers said in unison and attacked the two. Squee did backflips so that she dodged Green's attack, whilst Rain went left, diving as if she were doing it off a spring-board. Blue and Green regrouped, acting as one as they were attacked repeatedly by Copper's swiftest blade and Titanium's blasters.

"Deltamax Strikers!" SPD Yellow and Pink Rangers said, blasting Copper back, which missed by a mile and sent Copper bounding back towards them. "Syd! Get down!" Yellow shoved Pink down to the right and jumped to the left, where it was clear. Yellow almost fell over the edge of the roof if Pink hadn't snatched her back up.

Titanium kicked both of them in the butts and they fell off the building. "Failed because you let your guard down."

"Squee! DT time!" Copper said, a reaassuring glance at her friend.

"Gotcha back! Sniper gun!" Titanium lifted up the gun she'd been holding and it became narrower and lighter. She got down on one knee and blew out SPD Red's ankle with a stun shock. Copper's sword slashed at his chest and he went flying off the edge. "Time!"

The simulation came to a halt. Z, Syd, and Jack were against the wall, Green and Blue stood, still back-to-back.

"Power-down, you two," Rain said. She had just powered back down and was happily giggling.

Omega Titanium also powered down. Unlike Rain, Squee wasn't laughing, she looked quite angry. "What was that? What kind of teamwork was that? Only two of you found the center, where you were safest! If you plan on becoming A-squad rangers, you have to first become aware of your surroundings and what could be used to your advantage. Teamwork is like a chair. In order for the weight to be distributed evenly, all allies must come to one agreement that won't harm the mission or whatever it is. You five don't seem to have that down just yet." Squee shook her head. "Me and Rain have been friends and allies since she was four and I was six. In order to be a good duo, we had to rely on one another in order to suceed this far in so little time. Now, off to bed. We have to report to Crugger."

The Ranger's saluted and filed out, Jack in the lead and Syd bringing up the rear. Rain turned on her heel to look at her friend.

"What?" Squee asked.

Rain shrugged. "It just seemed so easy back then, before Grumm tore our parents away from us." Rain gave a faint smile. "My mom and dad were part of A-squad before they were destroyed, and your foster fatheris a General and rarely comes to see you because of the inter-galactic war raging all around us. It just dawned on me how pleasing it was back when there wasn't much to worry about, just the occassional creepy monster roaming around, and then Grumm comes along and everythings different."

"Rain-" Squee stopped herself to think of the right words. "Rain, think of it this way; We protect what you're parents couldn't. We don't always want to be in the heart of the action, but somehow, the heart finds us. Ack!"

Rain had lunged at Squee and was embracing her like a sister. Tears splashed everywhere on Rain's face and Squee's uniform. "I just don't want to be alone anymore, Squee! I'm holding back to much! I feel like everything inside me is going to explode out any minute! I don't want any one to get hurt! Not even him!"

"He didn't seem to notice," Squee said on a side note. "Rain, I have feelings that need to be held back, too, but I honestly don't think your crush noticed you were out of it today, since this is the first time he's seen you." Squee gently pushed Rain back so they could stare at each other. In contrast to hights, the top of Rain's head reached Squee's nose, but she was still really relieved her best friend understood. "I have an idea, let's go ask Crugger if we can snag some ice cream for the freezer downstairs!" Squee said, a sudden stroke of brilliance making Rain giggle uncontrolably. "Hey! Let's hurry!"

---

"Day two on alien world," Syd said as she shuffled out of her room. Z and Jack were crashing on the couch, Jack snoring and Z ready to fall over.

On the other hand, Sky and Bridge were playing chess in the corner, looking very awake. Sky suddenly made a move and Bridge took it over with a booming "CHECK MATE!" which startled Jack and Z. Syd shook her head and furiously tried to get the tangles out of her hair with her fingers.

Squee and Rain came out of one of the rooms which was decked with black magnets on the outside, each of which had small bats or black bunnies with purple eyes. Rain skipped over to Syd and tugged her arm. "Let's go! Breakfast and then off to training! Crugger has a general idea already on who's goin' up and who's goin' down! Chop, chop! Hop to it, cadets!"

---

Rain and Squee stood side-by-side watching the Rangers run the mudd track through. Rain kept making funny noises every time one of them fell down or almost fell. Squee was wearing a loose-fitting uniform and her cap and heavy, steel-toed boots. Rain was wearing her Ranger uniform with matching shoes and hair that was flowing free of a ribbon today.

"Time!" Squee looked down at the stopwatch with dissappointment. "Tsk, tsk, tsk." She shook her head. "Jack! In over fourty-five minutes you did fifty push-ups, ten crunches, seventy jumping-jacks, and ran the mudd run twice. You must get it under fourty minutes in order to pass. Z, your time was fourty-seven. Syd, fifty-three. Sky, fourty-two. Bridge managed to do twice as much in fourty-five minutes. If you want to be A-squad, you must first pass the enterance exams and then you may shave off classes and time. So far, only two of you are giving your all for each exam. But so far, only one of you is making the cut."

Ran stepped forward. "Rangers. Go clean up and meet us in the mess hall in twenty. There, you will take the next exam and then you may eat lunch." She saluted them.

Five salutes, five people jogging away, five cadets in a very grumpy mood.

---

"-don't get it, Crugger!" Z and Syd were saying.

Rain and Squee had just stepped in and stopped. The Rangers were making a complaint.

"They're working us _way_ to hard," Jack said in agreement.

Crugger stood there with his head bowed. Kat and Boom were watching him, consern in their eyes.

"They're just like two working robots. Don't seem to know the meaning of 'enough' when it comes to training." Sky suprised everyone by agreeing with Jack. "I don't know why they are in charge of these exams. All they do is work you into the ground."

Crugger's head raised up and he looked right across the console at Bridge. "And you have nothing to say, Carson?"

"Nope." Bridge shook his head. "I think they're just trying to warm us up for something greater."

Kat's face grew more conserned. "Do you even know what the final exam today was for?"

"Final exam?" Syd repeated. "As in the pass-or-fail moment?"

"Yes. Unfourtunately, since Bridge was the only one who showed up, he's the only one who moves up to A-squad active duty. Welcom, Red Ranger of A-squad. SWAT gear, weapons, and the room you sleep in now are yours. Congradulations, Bridge T. Carson in becoming the next Ranger of A-squad." Kat smiled and saluted Bridge.

Bridge looked like his brithday had come early. Shock spread like fire across his face and was quickly replaced by happiness. The silence that spaned was long enough for him to build up to a scream. "YES! YES! YES!" He punched the air. "YEAH!" He stopped when he saw Squee and Rain. "Hey... Um, how long were you, uh, standing there?"

"Long enough to know who our new leader will be." Rain smirked. "Congradulations." She stood at attention, Squee following suit. "Awaiting the next command, sir!"

Bridge looked over his shoulder at Kat. "Dose that mean that they have to follow my orders?" He was refering to the duo.

"You are higher than them. You have every right to order your old friends as well. They will go through the training again and again and again, or until they get it right. You have the power to order the attack or someone's death now," Kat said with a smirk. "And they are to obey the order, weather they like it or not."

"Uh..." Bridge smiled. "My birthday is in a few days, so this is like an early birthday present." He gave Kat a quick hug and then saluted Rain and Squee. "I'll be in the common room if anyone needs me." He happily left, making sure not to make a lot of noise as he happily darted down the hall. Sky and Jack looked baffled.


	4. Broken Birthday

Bridge was sitting in the new common room, all alone, no one to talk to, no one to stare at, no one. Just and empty space. Bridge looked over his shoulder at the room that he and Sky no longer shared. Sky had to live in a seperate room, he wasn't allowed in the same room as Bridge anymore.

He sighed as he turned to face forward again. He missed his friends. The ones he'd spent so much time with, the ones who gave him memories to remember, the ones that gave him a life he loved, the ones who gave him happiness.

With a peek at the clock, reading 9:37 pm, he sighed again and flopped down onto the long white couch and fell asleep, a tear falling onto the soft cusions.

---

The next few daysseemed like thelongest in Bridge's life. He found the morning of his birthday dawning down on him.

He walked into the cafeteria a little early, but just in time to see his friends glaring at him from one of the tables. He kinda stepped sideways to keep from backing into Kat. He felt like he'd done something terribly wrong. He slapped himself mentaly and put on a smile as he walked towards them. "G'morning, guys."

No response, just them turning away.

"So, uh, can I eat breakfast with you?" Bridge felt at a loss for words when they shook their heads. He had changed in three days time.

Three days ago, Bridge had been the yapping teen wearing green. Now, having toned down his chatter, he was less talkative. He'd learned pretty quickly, if you talk to much, Rain falls asleep and it's hard to cope with her lion-like snores. He'd also become more skilled than Jack and was now one of three mentors who taught four students. He'd also become more secluded, more to himself, and less open to them, since they obviously didn't like him.

Bridge shuffled away. He felt loenly, and he cried himself to sleep most nights, alone, all alone, every time. He was either with two girls or was all alone and doing nothing. He wanted to spend time with his oldfriends, but they seemed to despise him now, saying he was the "big boss" who was _supposed_ to tell them what to do, but Bridge just couldn't bring himself to order them around.

Bridge was heading down to the labs, where Squee spent her time. He'd found a human body in hybernation down there. He'd been meaning to ask Squee who it was. He swept out his new morpher and held it up to the control pannel on the right. The door hissed open and he walked in.

"Hey. Didn't expect to see you so soon." Squee had a clipboard in her hand and was writing something on it. In front of her, giving of a faint glow, was the cascet with the human body inside. "Oh. Um, this is Dr. Thomas Oliver. I was able to transfer his mind out of his body, as it was badly damaged a few years after Messogog's downfall. He's over there." He pointed her pen to her right and there was the android from before.

"Hey!" The android jumped up. "It's you again!" He smiled.

"Your... You are the great Tommy Oliver?" Bridge looked baffled.

"Uh..." He looked down. "I dunno, I think so. My name is Tommy Oliver, I think like him, I just don't look like him." He smiled.

Bridge nodded in recognition. "So, this is his human body?"

"Yes." Squee pointed down. "Don't fret, he's not nude, ya know. He _is_ wearing cloths."

Bridge peeked. Tommy's body was indeed quite broken in places, but he was fully dressed, a long black robe, and he wore black boots as well. "So, uh, how'd he get so mangled?"

"I was involved in a plane-train-car incident. I was in the plane and it crashed into a car, which skidded across some tracks, but just far enough where the car would have been safe, but the train smashed through my section of the plane and pretty much shattered my ribs, my entier left arm, my legs from the knees down were broken to bits, and my skull is cracked open in the back." Tommy cocked his head to the side. "Thankfully, Squee's a pretty good mechanic, so she made this body for me, and I wanted to repay her, so I've been feeding what I know about things she wants to know about in turn for her transfering me back into my body."

Bridge smiled. "You sound like me, in a way. So, Squee's a great mechanic?" Bridge asked, poking the back of her clipboard.

"Yes. I was top of all my classes, but I excelled in Advanced Mecha & Enginering classes." She stared at Bridge over the top of her clipboard and sighed. "Do you want to know something about me?"

"Sure." Tommy and Bridge leaned in a little.

"Conner McKnight isn't my real father. My real father was the Green Samurai Ranger, Cam Watanabe. Unfourtunately, he left me in an orphanage when I was still young. I do, however, know a way of finding him." Squee took out an amulet. There were cracks in the green stone, the gold was faded, and an enourmus surge in energy almost made Bridge faint. "Exactly. This gem has more power now than it did when he had it." She stuffed it back itno her pocket. "For the longest time now, I've wondered why it was surging with energy, then I discovered that I'm not the rightful owner. It belongs to Sky." She looked away.

Bridge kinda stared at her with this look like he wasn't so sure. "You and Sky were both adopted. After Wesley Collins died, Mrs. Collins commited suicide. Sky was adopted by a woman who looked like Mrs. Collins. She brought Sky here and he's been raised like a very highly ranked cadet."

"Why is Wes so important?" Sque asked.

Silence filled the room. Just long enough for Tommy to start laughing. He suddenly slapped himself.

Gaspig for air, he held up a finger. "Wes changed the course of history several times in a row. If he hadn't, you would have never exicted because Lothor and Kanoi would have been killed." He started laughing again.

Squee pretended like she didn't know what was going on. Bridge sighed, but almost choked with shock when his morpher went off. Squee dropped her clipboard and pen, her eyes wide, her mouth open slightly. Her pupils were growing smaller.

Bridge tried to ignore her. "Go for Bridge."

It was Kat. "_Kat here. Bridge, come to the command center, immediately. We have to discuss something._"

"Kat?"

"_Yes, Bridge?_"

"Can I bring Squee with me? I think somethings wrong with her."

Tommy shook his head. "Leave Squee with me. I know her to well to know what's wrong. You go. Shoo." Tommy ushered him out the door.

---

Bridge came into the Command Center, his head bowed, rubbing the back of his neck. When he looked up, he almost fell back.

A cake linned with nineteen candles and reading 'Happy Birthday Bridge!', with his old friends linned around the small table, Crugger and Kat stood side-by-side, presents littered the floor, and, for the first time in three days, Bridge cracked a smile. He was still a little shocked, but a smile came, all the same.

"Wha?" Bridge asked, baffled.

Syd walked forward, Z in tow, and they both steered Bridge through the presents to the cake. They all clapped as Bridge came closer. Sam was swirrling in circles high above the cake, happily talking,qick as lightning.

"But then... If you guys were planning a party, why was everyone so mean to me?" Bridge asked, looking at the others, his hands raised in a curious way.

"First off, the reason we called you to the command center that day was because Sam was getting a headache from all this planning. Secondly, we had to make you feel unwelcome for a while, and then we decided to suprise you with this cake. Kat made it, by the way, Bridge." Jack smiled. "Besides, it was kinda fun pretending and your expression just now."

Sky patted Bridge on the shoulder. "The candels won't last forever." He let go of Bridge's shoulder.

Bridge closed his eyes. '_I wish that my friends will always be by my side, even in the roughest of times. I pray they will always be there._' With a soft blow, the candels went out. Bridge smiled. If he didn't say anything, the wish would be there forever, and it would always be true.

---

Bridge was seated in the common room, the unwrapped gifts laying in his lap, and his friends seated all around, chatting and laughing, as if they'd all been friends and nothing had happened. Even Crugger was seated with Kat and the other Rangers. Bridge felt like he would always be happy.

Then, with a wail like nails on a chalk board, the sirens went off. Squee and Rain came pelleting into the common room, both out of breath, both trying to say something that wasn't coming out, not even in sensable sentences.

"Broodwing... down town... under Piggy..." Squee and Rain finally stopped to catch their breath and then both tried to talk at once, causing some confusion.

Kat held up a finger. "One at a time, please."

"Broodwing was found with Piggy downtown..." Rain gasped for air.

"...They had Krybots and some other type of monster with them..." Squee continued.

"...One army of Krybots, one ugly monster, two aliens, and a bank," Rain recited, finally able to breath normal.

"Why dosen't that suprise me?" Sky asked. "Trying to get our attention, as usual."

Bridge sighed. '_So much for a happy birthday, for me anyways._'


	5. The Broken Bridge

**a/n**:sorry it took me a while. i got caught up in my other fics and trying to find an idea. kinda stuck between a rock and a hard place, but it came out!

* * *

Bridge rushed onto the sene, last in the group. He wasn't sure why, but he was pretty sure something bad was going to happen, even if it wasn't right away, he was sure it was going to happen.

It was another monster, one who didn't seem dangerous, especially since he was inoccent looking. It kinda looked like a cross between a teddy bear and a little fuzzy toy. Bridge kinda didn't want to fight, but he had no choice.

"SPD! Protocol!" With one swish, he was SPD Red Ranger. "Delta Turbo Blasters!" He pulled out two blasters from his belt and flipped over the other down rangers. He fired, with great accuracey and speed. He watched the monster slowly fall to the ground, right before the explosion. Bridge whirrled around and watched his friends rise to their feet. "Are you guys ok?" He ran over to help, but they pushed him away. "Power down." Bridge watched them leave, feeling the last of his old self leave with them. He felt a wall rise up around him, felt a sudden loss at heart, felt an empty pain, felt nothing, for the first time.

---

Sky was coming down the halls to his classes when he saw Bridge aimelessly wandering about. The look in Bridge's eyes scared Sky a little. It looked as if Bridge didn't really have his own mind anymore, as if he'd never really been there. Sky slowed to a stop and watched Bridge reach out and touch one of the solid walls and push against it, as if hoping for something to happen with preasure.

Bridge suddenly turned his head and stared at Sky, his eyes seemed to hold no life anymore, as if Bridge was a dead person walking about. With a great heave, Bridge stood up-right and saluted Sky before he walked away.

With a rush of neglect and helplessness, Sky watched his former friend walk away, as if he'd never known Sky was there. Bridge didn't turn around, he didn't look over his shoulder, his stride never faultered, but he kept on going, as if he'd only know Cadet Tate and not Schuyler Tate.

---

Bridge was seated in an empty classroom on the desk in the far corner. It'd been the first place he'd ever felt welcome into the world of civilization. It was the first place he and Sky'd met Sydney Drew, a preppy, but strong girl from a rich family. She'd been so popular and was pretty smart for a girl her age and status.

Syd had just made it to C-Squad, where Bridge and Sky had been. It was her first day and Bridge was sitting at the exact same desk he was at now when she'd asked him why everyone was staring at her. Since she was a blond "babe" with little to do but train, she wasn't to glits and glam.

Bridge was getting up from the table when the door hissed open. Bridge knew there were no classes at the moment, it was lunch time. He carefully made his way along the wall as the door kept itself open, as if someone was standing there. He stood beside the door and heard someone breathing out in the hall. With a deep breath, Bridge drew his blaster and swung into veiw and was shocked to find himself staring face-to-face with his previous leader. He didn't lower his blaster, nor did he lower his eyes. "Cadet Landors?"

"Bridge?" Jack put his hands up.

"You are unauthorized to call me such. It is written in the handbooks. 'One of higher anarchy is not to be told of as a youngling or to be talked to as one of equal or lesser status.' I cannot permit you to call me Bridge anymore." Bridge put his blaster back where it belonged and walked right up to Jack. "Do I make myself clear, cadet?"

"Yessir." Jack backed away. "I was just looking for you. I wanted to talk to you."

"I am terribly sorry. I am not to converse with B-Squad cadets in such a manor." Bridge walked briskly past Jack, making sure to gently nudge him. "I wish I could have some time to talk with you and the others, but you all refuse my company, so I must back away."

Jack felt like something was being torn out his chest. That wasn't Bridge, that was someone else. Bridge didn't seem to be there anymore, not in that state of mind. Bridge was fading, and no one was helping him, no one. He'd always be there to cheer up the team when they needed it, but no one ever came to cheer him up when he felt bad, which meant that Bridge was loosing faith in his only friends, his only companions, his only fall-back-on friends.

Jack raced after Bridge. "Bridge! Bridge!"

Bridge slowed to a stop. He whirrled around and met Jack face-to-face. "What!" He looked irritated, which was unusual.

"Look, Bridge. I know being the suped up Red Ranger isn't turning out to be what we were expecting, but you get free time! Think about it! You-"

"I don't care what the upside is anymore, I don't care about the cool things I get to do. I don't care about that stuff. If you haven't noticed as of recently, I haven't been saying any long, drawn-out questions. Or saying anything confusing. I can't be myself because I don't have you guys to back me up. If I had someone to fall back on, it's my new friends, and they told me allthe rules of being the Red Ranger, and how to be a good Ranger!"

"That's great, Bridge!"

"No it's not, Jack!" Bridge was almost yelling. "I don't want to ignore you guys! I don't want to pretend like I don't know you guys! You guys were my family! You guys were the colsest thing to a family I have ever had! I didn't want toend up this way, but you guys forced me to!" A single tear fell from Bridge's eyes. It looked lonely, traveling down his face, making a shimmering path on it's way down his pale, smooth skin.

Jack reached out and grabbed Bridge's arm. "Dude, remember what you said a long time ago? To Syd and Sky? We're in this together and rank and age don't matter anymore, nor dose gender. Syd thought you were a crazy psychic with a crazier mind."

Bridge's face became a clear complextion of shock. He stepped back from Jack, his pupils growing smaller. "No!" His hands shot up over his ears and he collapsed to the ground. "No. I can't... It's not possible... She just..."

"Bridge!" Jack knelt down beside Bridge, who'd fallen onto all fours. "Bridge, what's wrong?"

"I can feel another precense in my mind. She's been trying to get me to tell her where SPD keeps all it's higher-up technology and stuff like that." Bridge stummbled to his feet. He was automatically straightening his uniform and dusting himself off. He had that stern look that Sky had.

Jack watched Bridge walk away, his mind confused. It'd never been like this with Sky however. Someone was trying to force Bridge to do something he didn't want, and it wasn't ending up so prettily. Sky was easy because he just had a few walls, but Bridge had walls of thick iron or titanium. They were going to have to find a way to break down those walls, just as they had done with Sky, only this time, they were using the powers they had to help him, sheild him from pain, protect him from any mental damage, and a whole lot more. Which meant, Jack, Z, Syd, Sky, Sam, and Kat were going to have to work together to find their old friend.

Jack certainly didn't like this new Bridge, and he wasn't about to loose the old one either.


	6. Amulet and Fist

**a/n**: AH! see what you did! you made me start writing the ending of this fic! T-T like you care... anyhow! picking up where left off! since you SPD fans seemed to have liked it - forgive if it's a little dizzying, lol.

* * *

Sky was in the sparring room with Jack and Z. Something in his mind told him he wasn't doing it the right way, he wasn't treating Bridge rightly, like you should treat your best friend. Sky struck the air with his bare fist, his mind still on Bridge.

There was a soft scoff from the corner and the trio looked. Rain stood there, a bright smile on, with four very large, rather heavy looking breifcases. She gestured for them to come over, which they did. She cleared her throat. "Today, you'll be doing sparring with me and Squee, whenever she shows up. Sky and Syd will spar off with Squee, Jack, Z, you two are with me." Squee came in, a stack of towels in her arms, which she placed on a table nearby. "Now, each of the cases has a vest, leg, and arm weights. We'll start with the legs and move to the arms. Sky and Jack, the colors of your uniforms mark your starting point and case. Z and... Where's Sydney?"

Squee came forward, a black vest covered her usually black uniform, black leg weights went from her knees to her ankles, and the black arm weights, which she was securing, span from her elbow joint to her wrists and had gloves on the hands to help hold the weights there. "If Syd doesn't show, she'll miss the good part."

The trio looked at each other and then at Squee. Although Squee was only eighteen, almost nineteen, she was a little less toned than a bulky warrior. Her structure was strong-boned, and she did seem on the slim side. They had no idea what this girl was up to, but she was certainly up to something.

Sky walked over to his case and snapped it open. The weights for his legs were 11.7 lbs each. He felt a kind of hate build up for a minute and then vanish as he lifted the weights. Beside them, the arm weights were 27.6 lbs each. He stood up and saw something that made his jaw drop ten feet down.

Bridge was floating in mid-air, half-way between the roof and the floor, his eyes closed, his gravity pulling him towards the roof. His eyes snapped open when Squee walked up beside him. She tugged his sleeve and he landed in a hand-stand on the floor. He bent back and stood on his feet. Jack, by instinct after several months, saluted Bridge.

Sky knew they'd shoved him away, but that was for a reason! Bridge was, after all, a higher-up than them, which meant that he wasn't allowed to be all friendly with his old friends. Sky had a general idea what Bridge was going through. He wasn't so sure what he was supposed to be doing, so he was just keeping to himself and the two girls. He strapped the weights around his shins and felt the weight as he went to stand on the mark Squee had placed for him. "Bridge?"

"Cadet Tate?" Bridge looked at him as he stood not to far away with Squee. The two were warming up, or sparring, and were stopping for a moment. "Can I help you?"

"Um, what do I do?" Sky stood there.

Squee walked over and stood in front of him. "I want you to hop like a rabbit. What do you normally do? Do that and come to me when you've completed seventy rounds." She went back to sparring with Bridge.

Out of no where, they all felt a sudden merge of power around them. Those who stood closest to Squee and Bridge stumbled a little, but the farther away, the more powerful it got. Sky braced for the impact and felt it flow through his body. Bridge was fighting Squee withe such power that the two were acctually bending the air around them in ripples. Bridge brought his hand, flat palm out, and slammed it into Squee's shoulder as she rammed her entier shin into his side. There, where each had struck was a flash of light, for mere moments, as that was the moment of contact.

Sky was quite shocked, but otherwise fine. Even Rain was suprised at this power and agility being played on the training area. Slowly, they were making their way to the glass-encased, all concrete saprring room, flashes and sweat, all of it was slowly starting to head into the room,making sounds like those of strained warriors.

Rain and theB-Squad Rangers went to the glass to watch. Sky was somehow drawn to watch Squee's sharp movements. Her aura was suddenly visible to the sheild-maker. He gasped, her aura was neauteral white! She was in the heat of battle with so many responsibilities, but she wasn't under any stress. He looked at the others, transfixed on Bridge and the back to Squee.

---

Squee felt the Amulet pulsing through her veins again, it's power so strong, and yet it was weak. She watched as Bridge dodged her full-on fist and watched him land like a cat and swing his leg around to trip her. She bent back and used him as a spring and launched herslef towards a wall, using it to force herself to fly forward to him, knocking him back and slamming him into the wall, where she held him steady as she brought her shin up to wham it into his side.

A mizture of shock and pain spread over his face and he managed to slap her arms away and dodged her other shin. He cut low, but brought his foot up to collide with her face, smearing blood all over the walls and floors. Squee's nose was bleeding and she wasn't standing down, she just smirked and whiped away the blood and watched Bridge charge forward. The power surging through her body was incredible. She brought her fist back to her hip and then thrust it forward as Bridge brought his forward. The green smoke that swirrled away from his fist was his inner strength, just as Squee's was the color of snow and his was the color of the forest, they clashed, running into each other, blending, fizzing, shaping. And with a blast that blew out the unbreakable ultra glass and spread cracks through the concrete. Sky, Jack, and the others were thrown down to the ground as the cracks split the walls outside the sparring room and throughout the roof and door, cracking the panel to open the door, crushing the door and throwing it out into the hall, just as Kat was walking past.


	7. Passing Ways

Squee stopped when she heard the huge crashing sound. Slowly, she turned around to face the other Rangers. There, not ten feet away, was a pool of blood. Without a second tought, she ran straight to the damaged area and began to lift chuncks of the door and wall away, revealing one... two... three... four bodies before they found Kat. 

The other four were simply cadets who'd gone to see what all the noise was about. Squee was able to lift out Kat from the rubble. Other than being unconsious and blood gushing out of her mouth, Kat seemed perfectly fine. Rain joined her friend and began to check the five bodies and sighed.

"Only one of them is in sever condition. Kat simply cut the inside of her mouth. There's a few cuts and scrapes on her, but it looks like curiousity saved the cat this time." Rain smiled. "We just need to get this one-" she indicated the only female of the group of cadets "-to the medical bay."

Squee nodded and went to pick up the girl and carry her away when Sky stopped her. "What?" she said, her eyes sharp and cut through Sky's exterior. "Something I can help you with, cadet?"

Sky's hand tightened it's grip on her wrist. "I want a word with you."

"Now?" Squee looked down at Rain and back up to Sky.

"Yes, now." Sky dragged her off, down a hall and out of sight of the danger area. He turned around, turned her around to face him and stared her in the eye. "That amulet around your neck, where'd you get it?"

"It was my birth father's, why?" Squee looked so confused.

"I keep thinking it's calling me." Sky released her and took a good look at her, his eyes staring deep into her's, as if trying to find something he couldn't see. Finally, he looked down at the amulet. "It's the Samurai Amulet, used against Lothor. I read about it. They said it was lost to the tides of time. But if you have it, your living proof that the amulet still co-excists with our technology. That means Kat could unleash so many different kinds of inventions that we can use to destroy Grumm..."

Squee looked off to the side, muttering; "NOW he understands. Sheesh." She turned to him. "You do know a lot about the Samurai Amulet, why is that? Did someone tell you to? Or were you working off pure instinct?"

"Pure instinct." Sky blinked. "I had a dream about a girl just like you, and she asked me to take this amulet. I kept dreaming out it, ever since I became a Ranger, but when I met you, they just stopped, just like that." Sky stared at her with such an inoccently curious expression. "What's that mean?"

Squee gave a warming smile. "That's because the Samurai Amulet wishes for it's new master." She took it off from around her neck. "It will only work once for you. It will give you the boost you need when you call upon it. Oh, Sky..." She stood on her tip-toes and kissed his cheek. "Thanks for reminding me." She ran back around the corner, her footsteps and voice echoing back to a very stunned Sky.

---

Bridge sat beside Kat, since his old friends were still training. He couldn't help but wonder... Why was he given the power of psychic sense? Why did he have these strange revelations so suddenly? Why did he have to be so... so weird? Why wasn't he given something that gave him a normal life?

Kat's voice broke him.

"Bridge?" She was laying in her bed and her hand was raised.

Instinctively, Bridge took hold of it, his own mind in a whirl. Kat was awake! "I'm here." Bridge gently gave her hand a squeeze. "Don't worry, your gonna be fine."

"Bridge, he's coming."

"Who is it?" He didn't understand.

"Stop him!" Her grip tightened, "He mustn't come near you!" It was constricting his fingers."He'll hurt you!"

And with that, Kat's eyes slid shut, returning her to the sleeping state she was in prior. Her eyes fluttered like butterfly wings and her tightening grip slacked so much her finger fell limp to the bed, laying still on the white linen sheets. Bridge just sat there, his eyes wide, his mouth agape. He had to find out what Kat meant!

Just as Bridge stood up, the sirens went off. Crugger was calling him and the other two A-Squad Rangers to active duty. He gently stroked Kat's hair and took off, morphing right as the door opened. He darted past Sky and Jack and was soon joined by Squee and Rain, who were also morphed. Bridge stopped and turned around as Crugger entered the Comand Center. Squee and Rain stood on either side of him, at attention.

"Grumm has decided to attack an orphanage in Japan. I need you to go and stop him from hurting anymore people. There's a hyper drive located on Squee's SWAT truck. Dismissed, Rangers! Hurry!"

Bridge stopped right outside the door. "Sir, if we need, please send Jack and Sky as back up."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, sir."

"Very well."

Bridge smirked to himself. '_You'll get your chance to shine, Sky. That amulet's almost healed. Squee's going to give it to you soon enough._' He ran right past the duo who had come to the Command Center. He waved to them before running off to join the girls. '_Squee know it's time to pass it on to a stronger generation than her bloodline, so be ready for it Sky._'


	8. I'm a Mesomorph

Squee's SWAT truck was going full blast and made it just in time to see a huge explosion just outside of a small elementary school that housed the orphens.

Bridge was the first to jump out, his gun raised. He wasn't about to let these homeless children loose what little they had. He fired on Grumm's attacking army and was able to blast an opening for Rain to get to the children. Rain ran at top speed pulling out her light blade and slicing through the many Krybots that stood in her way, not showing any mercey to these robots. She stood her ground against them as the children were slowly filing out of the school building, frightened to death.

Squee used the SWAT truck to go bowling with the Krybots, using them as bowling pins and the SWAT truck as a bowling ball. She was able to make a nice large path for the kids to follow as Rain's blade. Bridge's blaster was going non-stop.

Squee's truck ran over a few more before she slowed down. "Oh... that's not good." She hit the com unit to contact Bridge. "Squad Leader! We have a slight problem."

"Like what?" Bridge managed to ask before he had to kick low to knock a Krybot down. "Don't tell me... another army of Krybots?"

"Noo... something a little weirder and bigger than a Krybot." Squee was frantically hitting buttons, trying to stop the truck on a dime. She grabbed the wheel and turned it so sharply she didn't have time to worry about her safety, but only that of the children, making the truck capsize onto it's side. She fell uncounsious as a small fire began at the back of the truck. A flash and she was demorfedand wearing her uniform, unaware of the danger.

Bridge was only able to be shocked for a moment. He felt a slight anger build for a moment and then vanish. He whirrled around and threw a small, white orb that sent a vibrating flash over most of the Kyrbots. The flash disassembled them and created a mess of the Krybots. "Rain! Help Squee, I'll get the Troobians." Bridge had barely finished when an explosion behind them made them start. The SWAT truck had just exploded.

Rain's eyes widened and her feet moved faster than ever. With one large push, she lunged up and over to the cockpit. "Bridge! Look!"

Bridge's head turned around and he saw what Squee had been talking about. The "thing" was infact a monster. Tenticles came off her head, her body was encased in snake leather and her body was shaped like an hour glass. Her hands had claws like iron nails and her whole body was green, like the scales on her snake head. She smirked and walked past Bridge to the truck. "Life is to short, isn't it? Squee found that out the hard way. She always risks her neck for those in need, does she not?"

"Don't you dare talk about Squee like that! You don't know Squee the way I do! She does that because she cares!" Rain's anger showed through her own calmness. She lunged forward, her light blade slicing the air. "She means a lot to a lot of people! You don't know what that means, ma'am."

"'Ma'am'?" The monster raised her hand to her mouth and started to laugh. "Tsk, tsk, tsk! That's no way to talk to a man!"

"Man!" Rain stood straight up, her blade tip touching the dirt, her eyes widening, her body begining to shake, her eyes were wide. "You can't be..."

"Like Squee, I'm not human. I'm only half-human. Part of me is alienated from the planet of Morphious. We can change our gender, height, face, everything. It's not to bad, it's just a small part of me."

"And me, you." Squee's figure emerged from the flames. Her arm was wide open, revealing her bones. There was a soft glow over her shoulder that made a careful path down her arm, restoring it. She flexed her arm slightly and smirked. "Ow. That acctually hurts." She walked past Rain, changing her form to become Kat and stopping short of the monster. "You changed, how cute, your supposed to be Medusa... That's lame, even for you, Howard. Did Grumm offer to save our world in return for the last leader's head?"

"Yes, he did." Howard's body glew slightly, his body appearing the way it was originally. Long hair that swung around his shoulders gave a sandy brown glow to his grey skin and dakr hued eyes. He wore a long black trench coat and black jeans and boots that were heavy with metal toes that revealed that he was indeed a warrior of sorts. He smirked and put his hand on his hip, looking much like a woman. "I'm here to get Bridge for Grumm. It's not that hard to give him to me, just let me tie him up and drag him away."

"No can do!" It was Sky's voice. "And that's my friend! I'm not letting him be dragged away that easily!" Sky's blaster fired from the top of a building, giving away his position. Beside him, Jack stood with his own Red Ranger uniform. Sky was suited up and was in a sort of shock at the sight of Squee. "Jack and I were sent as back up, as requested!" Sky saluted his friend. "As ruquested, we have come to aide you, Bridge!" Sky jumped off the building and landed neatly beside "Kat" and Jack followed suite. "I didn't know you could do that..."

"Well, now you know. I'm a Mesomorph, from the planet Morphious, or at least my mother was. Ah! You're wearing the amulet." She smiled. "You got your dream, now's the time for me to release my powers on him." She cracked her knuckles and stretched. She smirked evily as her body gave off a faint glow again and ran forward while her body was still transforming. "Highest warrior against highest preist! The battle royal you wanted, Howie!"

He suddenly raised his hands in a defense pose but was shocked. Bridge, Jack, and Sky were also shocked.

Long, flowing white robes flew out in gracefullness as her body was thrown forward. Her hair was long and silvery blond, which was tied back in a loose braid that was so long it almost looked like a rope coming from her. A blade of pure white metal clashed with the cracked and rusted blade of the highest warrior. The children clapped, some ofthem calling Squee an angel from God's grace.

Rain plopped down, noticing the Krybots were also engrossed in the battle. She had nothing to do but watch her best buddy spend time fighting someone from her own world. She closed her eyes and remembered the last time Squee had acctually made an effort in any battle and smirked. That was almost ten years ago, back when they were both still young and Squee didn't know how to transform, but to see the Godly angel fluttering around with something so other worldly was so incredible. "So, Squee's going to awaken the Samurai before she dissappears into the abyss of time with Izzi again? What a good plan... But the one she seeks must be unlocked... If only people knew how to do things on their own."

The sudden smell of burning flesh filled the air as the children were hearded away from the burning truck and the heated battle. Squee was standing over Howard, her blade raised high, a small stream of yellow liquid running down it. Oddly enough, Bridge knew that was blood. Howard healed himself and his cloths. Squee's eyes flared to her green eyes. She was thrown back by a flux in the air around her and hit a wall, causing a few cracks to spread over the concrete. She slid to the floor and when her hand came in contact with the hard tar she sent a huge shock that split the already chared tar and sent Howard flying backwards. She charged forward, raising her sword and driving it through Howard, right through his gut.

Howard's hand swung low and smacked her across the face, a the yellow liquid dripping from her lip and some from her nose. She raised a hand and a huve flux of air sent Howard flying high into the air. Squee suddenly whipped around and stretched out her hand to Sky. There was a huge shock of green that sped through the air and impacted the Amulet. A glowing green object eminated from it and landed on Squee's wrist. A shock of green on her pure white robes that seemed to not absorbe the yellow blood, nor take in the ash of the fire or the burns from the fumes. It made a solid ring around her middle finger, wrist, and half-way up her forearm. It was quite a shock of dark green and white mixture.

Howard landed with a loud BANG behind her as the shock of green became an arm sheild that was made of tough energy that deflected the next blow to the owner's head. Squee raised her sword as her left arm sheilded her. Although plain-looking, it had some power that was quite extraordinary. With one sweep she could make a larger sheild or shrink a sheild. She swung low and sliced at his knees.

"Look! All I want is Bridge Carson!"

"And I'm not giving you what you want!"

"You never did!"

"Maybe it's because your my grandfather, but I sure don't and never did, like you!"

"Shut up!"

"You!"

"Bridge Carson! Grumm will take you away! You'll be better off in our world! Where you can be at full power!"

Bridge didn't have time to think. A huge burst of energy and he was out like a light, unable to respond to what Howard had said. He didn't even have time to take a breath, he just collapsed.


	9. Tourtured Man

Bridge woke up to find he couldn't budge an inch. He wasn't even able to turn his head the slightest, twitch, and could barely breath. He knew it was a psychic who was holding him down, but he wasn't sure he really knew who it was. He was just wondering if he was going to die when he heard a craggy voice. He stiffened and felt his body come lose from the gripping hold.

"Hi, hi! Welcome!" It was a girl's voice.

"Mora, shut up." Grumm came into veiw. "Hello, Cadet Carson. Do you know why your here?"

"You want something." Bridge said it so bluntly he was suprised a bit by what he'd said. "I don't mean that in a rude way! It's just that, usually, the evil person wants something so he or she kidnaps someone important, although, I don't find myself very important. Why am I so, so, so important to someone like you when most of the people I know are much, MUCH more important than I? Where is here?"

"Shush." Grumm held a finger up to Bridge's forehead. "I do want something. I'm going to probe your mind for what I want. I want that power you have. I want to see what makes you tick, then I'm going to use that to manipulate you to become my slave. Thanks to Rain, here, I can hold you here and she'll pretend to be looking for you."

Rain stepped out of the shadows, her eyes down-cast. "I'm sorry, Bridge. I really wanted it to go down without a hitch, but I wasn't expecting Sky to have the amulet this soon. If he had it later, Howard would have been able to grab you and go, and not cause such a scene." She smiled weakly. "Why? Why do I do this? I don't want to hide in Squee's shadow anymore! I want to be my own Ranger, I want to take her place... Then she decided to train the B-Squad so early, so I really had to adjust my plan around you five so that Squee still falls, but the she gave away the amulet without my knowing. The Samurai is about to awaken in her and she can't stop him! I want her head on a silver plater before that happens!" Rain's fist slammed hard into the wall, vibrating it off the walls and sending a huge blast of sound echo coming back. "I'm sick of the whole Samurai Squee! I trained most of my life to become better than little missy, and all I can do is watch from the side!"

"But Squee thinks of you as her best friend!"

"Like I care!" Rain's hand closed around Bridge's throat. "I made Kat warn you of Howard so you'd be on your toes! I made that huge explosion! I made the lessons you fifve trained in! I worked my butt off to get you to be the best! I was the one who woke Tommy to the life of you! I did that! I set this up for Grumm! I've put a tracker on Squee's cloths so we know where she is at all times! You are going to cooperate, or I will see to it that your best friend dies of a horrible car crash!"

Bridge almost fell back, but managed to stand straight and strong. "So, what do you want from me?"

---

Squee was seated akwardly on the couch, her eyes shimmering with tears. Her hibernation wasn't that far away now. She was reaching for a destiny that was already set the day her mother saw Mr. Watanabe training at the dojo in the middle of the forest. This was the impossible abyss that she'd never wake from again. Her body would go into an eternal slumber that would eventually kill her as she slept in her icy coffin down in the lower levels along-side Tommy and the other two aliens that had been the King and Queen of her planet.

She whipped her tears away when she heard the door hiss open. Sky stood there, his fists clenched. Jack, Syd, and Z were yelling at him and he didn't even seem to listen. He charged up to her and his fist smashed into her face, knocking her off the couch. By instinct, she slapped him across the face with her boot and rolled away. "What!"

"Rain kidnapped him! She was seen on the survalence tapes dragging him out of the hospital ward!" He threw the table that sat in the middle of the room out of his way in rage. "Your 'friend' took him to Grumm! Your 'friend' took my best friend away! Your 'friend did this to Bridge!" He charged her and slammed her back against the wall and she felt a soft pounding in her head. "I will kill your 'friend'! Where'd she take Bridge! WHERE!"

Squee simply stared at him with a blank stare. "The amulet will tell you."

"Screw the amulet!" Sky's fist came incontact with her flesh again and blood splattered along the wall. It had splattered out of her mouth and made a gracefull arch on the wall, to everyone suprise, it was red blood. "I want to know! Tell me, right NOW!"

"I don't know." Squee felt the life drain out of her. She wasn't sure what was going on, she just knew that she couldn't move anymore, Sky's voice was fading, the color spectrum was loosing it's vibrant shades. She realized, at the last moment, her, Squee McKnight, mental mind, was going into hibernation, the Samurai was awake and she was finally able to take the rest she needed. "S-Sky..." She reached out and touched Sky's jacket, but she smiled throughout her struggle to stay consious. "...The Samurai is awake... He'll find Bridge... and bring him... back... Safe and... and sound... It's... it's ok... now, Sk-Sky." She smiled softly and leaned forward and and gently kissed Sky on the cheek as her body began to glow. "I'm-m so s-sorr-ry... for wh-what R-Rain has..." Her words fell short of their target as her eyes slid shut and her body became a glowing orb that was just suspended in the air for a moment. Slowly, she unfurrled to reveal her true form, the Samurai.

"You!" Jack jumped back. "You... Your Cam!"

"Ha ha!" It was indeed Cameron Watanabe. "I'm what's left, in this world, of his spirit. My daughter can finally rest after nearly twenty years of no sleep. She won't be forgotten entirely. Ah! The new Samurai Ranger..." He smiled widely. "Squee did choose greatly for this prediciment! The strongest of souls and the hardest of hearts to crack! Alas, Bridge could have taken it as well, but she chose wisely for someone your age." He tapped Sky on the head. "I'm the inner spirit of _that_." He jabbed the amulet. "I've been there for the last... oh, I don't know, twenty-five years, perhaps? Cam and Cyber Cam locked me inside to give insight to the youngun that I was to lead to the light of a Samurai's world. Now, where can I find a sword?"


	10. The end?

Bridge felt light-headed as he heard someone tapping into his mind. His eyes widened and he felt the horrible pain again, the splitting headache, the searing sensation of someone peeling his brain out. This was the third time in one hour, he couldn't stand it, he was about to crash, just crash, but Grumm wasn't letting him.

His scream echoed off the walls as he struggled against the chains. His ripped shirt revealed his pale, smooth flesh. His gloves were torn away and lay on the ground, his pants were ripped to almost shreds. He was on the verge of feeling true death, the eternal sleep that people often wanted so badly, but not Bridge, not once... Until the moment he met Grumm's mighty psychic fist.

Deeper into his mind, Grumm was probing deep into the depths of the young Ranger's mind, almost scrambling him. He was searching when his voice came back to Bridge. "I'm about to launch my final attack, like Master requested, and destroy the SPD Base, and, thanks to you, I'll be able to do that."

'_Why?_'

"Who's that!" Grumm pulled back so quickly that the chained Bridge could all but scream so loudly that it reached the space just beyond the ship. "Who was that! Who was that woman!"

"I..." Bridge was trying to breath, but was failing misserably. He was crying from the pain, his body shook as his arms were hoisted off the ground by the chains once more. He knew he was probably going to die here, in this room, in this darkness, with his torn cloths, without his best friend, and all because someone wanted to be higher than someone else or because someone wanted to crush someone else's powerful grasp. "...I d-don't know." Bridge's head fell to his chest and he felt his body shake slightly as blood spilled from his lips and splattered onto the floor.

"Launch the attack on SPD Base! Now!"

"Sky." Bridge softly called the name of his best friend as he felt his body being dragged away by Mora's cold hands. He was going somewhere, but he didn't want to know, so he closed his eyes and fell asleep once more.

---

The sirens were going off, cadets were running a-muck, Kat and Boom were trying to find Crugger, who was seated in the Comand Center, his morpher laying on the ground beside his chair. Grumm had fifty-thousand leauges of Krybots headed this way and the Rangers were no where to be found, and so was one of the most honored sabers.

Crugger bent down and picked up his morpher. He was all that stood between Grumm and world domination, alone... Or so he thought.

"Doggie?"

"Kat."

"I was able to restart my morpher, but it only lasts a few hours at most. Since we are the only two Ranger's left, we need to fight together, right?"

"Very well, suite up, we need to be ready for anything at this rate."

---

Sky ran along a small path to a space transport that Cam had put together. He jumped up and landed in the cockpit beside Cam. "Let's go, already!"

"We need to wait until he launches the first attack," Cam said. "Besides, someone once told me, '_If it's a false alarm, that makes you the weakling, not the enime_', and it's held true in my case." Cam smiled so warmly. "Squee told me that when she was a small girl and I couldn't believe that someone as sweet as her could say something so wisely. I'm sure no one here will miss her. She wasn't ever missed by anyone, not even her own mother missed her when we left her for adoption. It took my heart and soul to watch her grow up the way she did... Where no one loves her more than I do."

The whole earth seemed to shake as a huge explosion went off. Cam and Sky did all they could to hold on to their seats as they were rocked with the quake.

Cam hit the intercom. "Z! Syd! Prepare for launch! Jack, strap in, up there, it's going to be a bumpy ride. Ready, Sky?"

"As ready as possible." Sky snapped his buckle in. "I hope Crugger and Kat can hold the fort back at Base." He grabbed his steering wheel and began to move it forward, giving them lift into the air. "I know those two, they won't go down without a fight, no matter what."

"Then no worries or regrets if we die?"

"Nope."

"Then we go to victory!"

"Or to our doom," Jack replied.

"Think possitive, Jack, my lad." Cam smiled. "You four might want to morph, give me time to find Bridge and get him up and going, kay? Kay." Cam put the pedal to the medal and they were speeding off into space to hunt down Grumm and his captive.

---

Bridge felt himself being crammed into a capsule when he woke and realized he was being launched into space in such a small capsule that he might not last more than an hour. He shut his eyes tight and didn't look up into the black velvet strewn with glittering specs. He knew what was waiting for him, a death alone, and in the cold.

---

THUNK!

"What was that!" Sky demanded.

Syd's voice came out over the intercom. "BRIDGE!"

"We hit a bridge? Out here?" Cam asked.

"No, no, NO! Carson! He just floated past us!"

"Grab him!"

"I'm trying! Stop the ship, goddamnit!"

"Hey!"

"Just do it! He's just out of reach!"

"Reverse!"

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Four voices chorused as the whole ship went into a sudden reverse, it made Sky wonder if Cam had ever manuvered in large veichles. "Stop that!" Sky said, hitting Cam's wrists. "You plan ta kill us, too!"

"Nope, I was evading fire and obeying and order." Cam smiled. "Two birds, one stone."

"Ouvei." Sky's fingers pressed into his forehead and he shook his head. "Got him yet?"

"We're boarding him now!" Z said in a happy tone.

Cam wheeled the ship around and headed back to earth as the other four rearranged themselves again, after another crazy shift.

---

"Finger lasers!" Crugger couldn't figure out why, but these Krybots were so hard to destroy. They would regain their balance as soon as they were able, even if they were missing a few parts.

Down below, Kat was defending some of the young escaping cadets. She kept fighting Krybots after Krybots, but she couldn't stop the constant flow.

Crugger was beging to loose power. He was completely useless. He couldn't fight back, he was on the verge of giving up when a huge blast of a laser caught his attention. Kat looked up to the skies where the blast had come from.

There was the SWAT Megazord. Bridge's voice resonated from it. "_That_'s far enough, Troobian troops!" He landed and began to squash the Krybots by stepping on them. "Bridge is back in the house!"

Sky jumped into action along with the other Rangers. Cam simply watched from the small space transport with a smirk. "If only Squee could finally wake to see the one she loves one last time. Poor girl. No one's going to miss her, like always." His face suddenly became oddly sternly-angrily-happy. "Use the dang amulet, boy! It may be a one-time use, but it's worth it, dangnamit!"

Sky ripped the amulet off his neck and held it up to the heavens. "Samurai Storm! Ninja Form!" He transformed, his blue SPD mixing with the green Samurai Star. His helment visor became a strip of black strewn across a helmet that had a green strip down the middle with a white SPD badge sitting in the middle. His uniform was almost the same, the only difference was the design. The gloves were blue, the boots were blue, there were blue sleeves, but everything else was green, with a black Samurai Star beneath the SPD mascot on his chest.

"SPD Samurai Ranger!" Sky lunged into battle, with his bare fists. He sent a huge wave of aqua marine energy through the air and cleared a huge path between Kat and the cadets and the Krybots. He gave Kat the thumbs up. "All clear!" He held his hand out parallell to the ground. "Samurai Blaster!" He used the Krybot's heads as practice for his moving target shot. He felt so much energy going through his veins, he couldn't help but let it do it's bidding in his body.

---

The battle was over, Grumm lost to the SPD Samurai Ranger. Sky was out of energy by that time, when all that lay before the base was a chasotic scene. Smoke rose from burning Krybots,Ranger's wounds were blown open, bits and pieces of the Delta Base Megazord lay scattered around. Cam was no where to be found, neither was Rain or Squee.

Sky lay there staring at the sun set painted skies. Two shooting stars went off together and he made a wish on them both. He realized he hadn't done that in so long he couldn't remember what his silly five-year-old wish he'd made. He made a wish that he could meet Squee again someday and the other was that he and Bridge would never have an argument or be higher than the other in each other's eye.

"Sky," Bridge playfully dropped a Krybot head on Sky's head as he said his friend's name. "Didyou wish on the twin stars just now?"

"Yeah."

"What'd you wish for?"

"To see Squee someday and that we don't fight each other the way we sometimes do."

"HEY!"

"What?"

"You wished the same as me!"

"Think we'll see Squee again?"

"Fo' sure, man!"

"Don't say that." Sky sat up.

"Why not?"

"Doesn't sound like you."

"Bridge Carson!"

"Yeep." Bridge turned to the voice and saw Crugger. "Sir!"

"I demote you back to Green Ranger of B-Squad, since that's where you seem the most comfortable." Crugger held out the SPD 3 morpher. "I'll trade you the Green for the Red."

Bridge traded, but his mouth didn't close. "I-I don't know what to say!"

"Then just say, 'yessir'!" Kat said with a laugh.

"Y..." Bridge swallowed a lump in his throat. "YESSIR!" He, for the first time, hugged both Crugger and Kat. "Thankies, thankies, thankies!" He smiled widely and let them go and ran to tell Sky, who was off on the side talking with Jack,the news, and did ajump and hug to his friend.

Kat looked at Crugger and smiled. "I still think your cute." She quickly walked away to join the other Rangers as Crugger stood there stunned.


	11. The authours notes

XD lookie! lookie! all done!

T-T i know it took me FOREVER to finish it... but it's done... so... um... YEAH! thumbs up this is the part where i tell you how thankful I am and what naught, but this is something better! i'm going to acctually write a short that started this fic! yes... i remember what started this whole fic... so, here it is!

legend:  
regular - narrative  
_italics_ - speach  
**bold** - thoughts  
(text) - authors notes

--

bridge was seated at the comp when there was a bang behind him, making him jump a mile. _hey!... wha!_

sky was on the ground and boom was plastered against the wall. (i have NO idea why this is here, but, it's here! so i can't figure out why lol)

_what happened! boom?_

boom didn't answer, he just stood there, with his eyes watering and a silly smile on his face. (ah! he's gone insane! no... wait... he was always insane! XD)

sky sat up. _he set his chemistry set on fire, AGAIN._ sky rolled his eyes. _that's the fifth one that kat gave him that he destroyed so easily._ sky waved his hand casually.

_sky!_

_what?_

_don't be so mean to boom!_

_i'm not being mean! i'm being normal._ (believe it or not, that's the line that started my 'Meet My Roommate' and 'Hold That Thought', so, ta-da! something that wasn't even supposed to be for 'Upgrade' started something else! --;; i'm lame) sky smirked. _this is just me being me, bridge. not like you can change what i am._ sky stood up and walked out.

z had just opened the door when sky stormed out. **what a stuck-up, over-worked, air-headed jerk!** (ahaha! she's poking fun at sky in her head! like i'm really gonna put that in the story! hahahahahahaha! hits self so hard is bleeding wah! i'm so lame!)_hi, bridge, boom! what's with the big mess?_

_boom made another mess._

_chemestry?_

_yup._ bridge knet down and helped boom off the ground.

_what's up with sky?_

_he's being grumpy again._

_haha! he's so funny!_ z kept laughing, unable to stop.

boom suddenly stood up straight. _i just remembered! i want you guys to meet my new friend! c'mon! squee isgonna love ta meet you!_ (this was before rain manifested my mind -) _she's so awsome! all of you are gonna LOVE here!_ **i can't tell them that she's also really cute, really smart, and totally, wickedly awsome!** ( --- boom had a crush on squee at first, but i decided against that, lol)

--

and that's how UPGRADE began. i honestly didn't think it'd be that popular! i just thought a few people would acctually read it - this was my rough draft that i drew up in my head and wanted you guys to see. anyhow! enjoy! i plan to write LOTS more fanfics! maybe not a power rangers, but it'll be something else, promise! now go drop a review on how good you think it was! - thankies! huggles all 'round!... --0 is lame


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